Israeli Sign Language
| Israeli Sign Language | |
|---|---|
| Shassi | |
| שפת הסימנים הישראלית śfàt ha-simaním ha-iśraelít שס"י shássi [abbr.] | |
| Native to | Israel |
Native speakers | 10,000 (2003)[1] |
German Sign Language family
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | isr |
| Glottolog | isra1236 |
Israeli Sign Language, or ISL, is the most commonly used sign language in the deaf community of Israel. Some other sign languages are also used in Israel, among them Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language.
History of ISL
The history of ISL goes back to 1873 in Germany, where Marcus Reich, a German Jew, opened a special school for Jewish deaf children. At the time, it was considered one of the best of its kind, which made it popular with Jewish deaf children from all over the world as well as non-Jews. In 1932 several teachers from this school opened the first school for Jewish deaf children in Jerusalem. The sign language used in the Jerusalemite school was influenced by the German Sign Language (DGS), but other sign languages or signing systems brought by immigrants also contributed to the emerging language, which started out as a pidgin. A local creole gradually emerged, which became ISL.[1]
ISL still shares many features and vocabulary items with DGS, although it is too far apart today to be considered a dialect of the latter.
During the 1940s ISL became the language of a well-established community of Jewish deaf people in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Today ISL is the most used and taught sign language in Israel, and serves as the main mode of communication for most deaf people in Israel, including Jewish, Muslim and Christian Arabs, Druze, and Bedouins. Some Arab, Druze, and Bedouin towns and villages have sign languages of their own.
In addition to ISL, there is also Hebrew manually coded language used as a tool to teaching deaf children the Hebrew language, and for communication between deaf and hearing people.
History of the Deaf Community
The begins of an established deaf community in Israel started with just a few people. A small group of deaf friends moved from Jerusalem to Tel-Aviv where they found jobs but also more deaf people. The Purim parade in 1936, in Tel-Aviv, is remembered as an important event where the small group from Jerusalem meet with other deaf people from Tel-Aviv and Haifa. This lead to more meet up and eventually the creation of an association of Deaf people. The first official board was was elected in 1944. Moshe Bamberger was the first president. The association organized lectures, trips, and holiday celebrations. The community grew as refugees from world war two fled to Israel. As more people came the association helped them integrate into the Israeli Deaf community by helping them learn Israeli sign language and helping them find work. Eventually they needed a space for themselves and so the Helen Keller House came to exist, now the center of the Deaf community.
History of Deaf Education
The first school of the Deaf was established in 1932, it was a boarding school in Jerusalem that taught oralism and was very strict. Two other schools were established in Tel-Aviv in 1941 and Haifa in 1949, both also taught Oralism. Oralism was the main way of teaching until the 1970s. Things began to change with Izchak Schlesinger starting to research ISL as a Language. Another key part to the change was in 1973, Israel hosted the Fourth International Conference on Deafness. Slowly people started using ISL more and more, soon it was being taught to Deaf preschoolers.
See also
References
- ^ a b Meir, Irit; Sandler, Wendy; Padden, Carol; Aronoff, Mark (2010). "Chapter 18: Emerging sign languages" (PDF). In Marschark, Marc; Spencer, Patricia Elizabeth (eds.). Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies, Language, and Education. Vol. vol. 2. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-539003-2. OCLC 779907637. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
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Further reading
- Meir, Irit & Sandler, Wendy. (2007) A Language in Space: The Story of Israel Sign Language. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
External links
- Israeli Sign Language Dictionary, Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel
- Israeli Sign Language, Sign Language Research Laboratory
